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The season may be winding down but that hasn’t stopped Blue Jays pitchers from dropping like flies. Friday, J.A. Happ became the eighth Toronto pitcher to undergo a season-ending injury.

Happ was found to have a fracture in his right foot after ankle discomfort, aggravated by a play at first base in New York 10 days ago, persisted.

“We’re not quite sure where it started,” manager John Farrell said. “The play at first base irritated his ankle where he was feeling discomfort at the time. When the discomfort lingered, we had an MRI done and it showed a fracture in the foot. The recommendation is to have surgery and his season is over.”

Happ proved to be a strong addition to the starting staff after coming over from Houston in that 10-player trade in July.

“When you bring a guy over from the National League, you want to see how they play through the lengthened lineups with the DH,” Farrell said. “He’s thrown the ball very well.”

With the staff as presently constituted, Happ is a definite rotation candidate for 2013.

Happ’s absence may give Chad Jenkins a chance for a late-season start.

THREE’S A CROWD

With the return of catcher J.P. Arencibia, Yorvit Torrealba will have a diminished role through the rest of the month.

“I’ve already met with Yorvit and he becomes the third catcher here,” said Farrell. “It will definitely affect his playing time. He understands that. J.P. has come back sooner than we expected, which is a positive, but we still have to build him up. Right now he’s not going to catch every game. Jeff (Mathis) will be the primary backup with Yorvit trying to find spots to stay active.”

GENTLY, BRETT, GENTLY

Brett Lawrie’s return to the lineup came with the required ‘Be careful out there’ admonition from the manager.

“The basic theme of the conversation was: ‘Don’t think you have to make up for the previous month tonight.’ He understands,” Farrell said. “I’m not going to say you’ll see a different player out there. We don’t want a different player. But I think he knows that, with the intensity he plays, he might let the game come to him a little bit more.”